The MSB LinkDAC is an absolute gem. But let Ric Schultz of Electronic Visionary Systems (www.tweakaudio.com) tweak it and you've got a true state-of-the-art DAC for a steal. Who would have thought that regular CD's could be rendered with such wide bandwidth, resolution and refinement. Stunning and enlightening. Trounces the Meridian 508-24. There is a wealth of more harmonic and staging information.
We're talking real transparency here. The DAC will need some break in time after receiving from Ric. The coherency and smoothness is wonderful. There is a succulence with a deep, silent back drop.

With the EVS mod, the MSB DAC is fearless in the face of mass ensembles and even bad cd's. It doesn't congest. Dynamics shine through.

Those kilobuck DAC's have nothing over the EVS MSB LinkDAC. Finally, the finest can be attained by all!


Associated equipment:

Panasonic 310 DVD for transport
D-60 Illuminations digital cable
Custom built SET amp
Harmonic Technologies interconnects & speaker cabling
Merlin VSM-SE speakers
PSB 300 Power Plant

I only had a Sony C601ES without outboard DAC. The DAC in this CD player has better S/N ratio of 116db, better than 106db of MSB Link. However, I always felt that the sound from my CD player was somewhat dull and tiring. So I tried MSB Link DAC and this Link definitely eliminated all these impressions from my system.The sound became much more alive, detailed, and clear, more listenable with MSB Link. Alhough the sound improvement itself might not be that huge however the result from this improvement is quite siginificant, much more enjoyable music.
I think this Link DAC must be worth trying for those who has CD player under $1000 or DVD player and wants to improve musical sound.

PS: good price in Northern Audio Exchange (www.nax.com)

System:
PDT3 Transport
ED Tesseract Digital cable
AA DTI Pro
Radio Shack "gold-plated" male-male
MSB Link DAC (powered by Monolithic MPS)
MIT MI330 s2 1meter
Mod Squad line drive
XLO Type 1 .5 m
Bryston 3B NRB amp
Straightwire Rhapsody 6' custom terminated
Infinity QE speakers

The Link DAC has great potential and can keep up with good equipment.

I haven’t yet tried 96/24, so this review only addresses standard CD sources

A jitter device between transport and DAC when in 44/16 mode is beneficial, at least it is with my transport and cabling. There are possibilities for tweaking with power cords and power (no surpise, when one considers how little MSB could expend on the Link's stock power supply). I obtained a Monolithic MPS to power both the DTI and Link DAC. The dedicated power seems to draw still more refinement from it.

Does the Link DAC sound like analog? Well, yes. But it's not whip cream either. There is enough sharpness to the transients. Bass is fine. I found the Link DAC's dynamics to be restrained compared with my Theta Pro Basic II (which is an outstanding component in that area) -- this gives a slightly polite impression at times. But my passive preamp could also be part of that problem, and I'll soon be trying out some low capacitance cable which might improve. On very fast playing it occasionally seems to lose the thread slightly.

Aside from these few criticisms, in every other respect I'm satisfied with the honesty of the Link DAC. After a couple of months of burn-in, it is still opening up, giving more tranparency, depth and ambience. (The better power, as stated above may be a significant factor in this.) It's proving difficult to pin any major "dwabacks" on this piece.

You might to do better, if you spent more, perhaps considerably more. But the Link DAC is really great value.

This DAC is well worth the money - I got a demo (flawless condition) and a $40 digital cable for $320. Build quality is great, it looks very nice (gotta love that purpleish-blue power light), and the sound improvement is noticeable by anybody (not just seasoned listeners) even on less-than-hi-fi systems. It's a welcome addition to my modest system. (being used with Marantz CD48)

price, can be tweaked, day and night improvement

none

This review is for the basic Link 3 without any upgrades or options. I had the chance to chat with a Marantz design engineer at a HIFI trade show and we discussed the SACD technology versus CD technology with upsampling. The discussion influenced my decision in not purchasing the LINK upsampling option. The upsampling option will add details and extend the high frequencies BUT you will receive a certain amount of exaggeration beyond what is really there. The basic LINK gives you the choice to bypass the analog filtering which help smooths out the sound of most systems that have a bright balance. If you already have a bright system and need this filtering to smooth out the details and brightness, why would you want to add upsampling to exaggerate the details again. The LINK configured without the filtering adds immediacy and dynamics to the sound just like MSB suggested. There is an instant sense of realism to the music that is simply unbelievable. The best description I can use is that it sounds almost like you went out and bought the DVD Audio or SACD version of your regular CD. Many times I have listened to a song from an AC-3 DVD and wishes my 2 channel system could have the clarity, depth and dynamics of the DVD track without the exaggerated details or brightness. With the LINK minus the analog filtering, I would say I am very close.

If you feel better getting bells and whistle with products that you buy, you should get the options and sleep better at night. But if you have a purist mentality, spend that extra money to improve the weak link in your system whether it be your amp, cables or speakers, then add the LINK minus filtering to your system. After all, the pursue of ultimate high end audio is to achieve neutrality in your sound.

My system:
Sim Audio I-5080 integrated amp
Sony ES90 CD player
JM Lab Cobalt 815 speakers
MIT 750 CVT II speaker cables
Kimber KCAG silver interconnects
Basic MSB Link 3

Great sound, superlow price

None

My system includes AA DDS pro transport, QUAD 77 amp and Tannoy D50 speakers.
Bought just to try new 24/96 stuff. Really it's cool.
The sound really gets better more you listen to it.
At the present moment there is no big choice of such reasonably priced cool devices.
I am waiting for some new more expensive (1000-1500$) 24/96 model to come but for now I don't see any good alternative.
From existing models I find MSB GOLD overpriced, MUSE 296 also expensive, not matching my system and definitely it'll not provide 8-10 times better sound how it costs.
Parasound , Rotel & Co. haven't released yet such products.
It's a good way to pay little, enjoy quality music and wait for a better DACs to be developed.

Similar Products Used:

MF X-Act

Very musical, with well-balanced sound at an outrageously low price.

A bit too reverberant, congests some in loud or complex passages.

Excellent sounding DAC at a very low price. Tends to have a somewhat relaxed/analog like sound, with a touch too much reverberation. Has very wide and deep soundstage, with good imaging. Probably not the best DAC to add to a system that is a tad too euphonic, but at the price most users will be trying to soften up the sound. Designed to be powered on continually, it takes at least 72 hours to break in, and continues to improve for months after initial turn-on. I'm running mine into a JPS Labs Ultraconductor S/PDIF connector, which is pretty clean and neutral and sounds good with this unit. I've found that since I've put the MSB into my system that I'm buying and listening to a lot of classical vs. jazz and rock, which is the opposite of my norm. This is a testament to its resolving power, coherence, and musicality. I've also moved my speakers a little to tighten things up, which is a little weird, but may point to a slight improvement in bass extension of my system since putting the MSB into play.

Similar Products Used:

Compared adding on MSB Link to old Marantz CD player to buying Arcam Alpha 9, Rotel 991 & 971

Smoothness, soundstage, price

I have the basic $299 link DAC III with no internal upgrades (upsampling, HDCD, or Nelson, etc.) I just wanted to add to the comments here by saying that this is a great piece of equipment. I am very very pleased with the improvements it made to my system. There's a great deal of added detail, with no increase in harhsness. The soundstage is expansive and its very rhythmic and musical. I can' see the need to spend any more than this. My system:

Cheapie JVC single CD player with optical output
MSB Link DAC III
Homemade 75-ohm digital cable
Homemade Audioquest-based interconnects
Homemade passive attenuator/preamp (Radio Shack potentiometer)
Heavily tweaked Dynaco Stereo 70
Homemade speakers, Wilson WATT clones (SEAS drivers)
Absurdly cheap KLH 10" subwoofer (Price Club), tweaked with internal damping and a replacement Blaupunkt driver.

Similar Products Used:

Musical Fidelity X-DAC, DAC-in-the-box

Not bad Not bad at all well worth the 349 after only one hour of use it surpassed my Adcom 700 / NBS mine surpent 11 balanced dig cable. The adcom list is 1000 and NBS dig cable list for 250 , the adcom/NBS set up is good so where does the MSB LINK stand . Not only did it inprove CD/LD/DVD/SAT listening to the news running through the fixed line out of the preamp into the speakers in the tv there was a vast inprovement over the adcom/NBS set up in clearidy I could just hear the words being spoken so much clearly. Good job MSB for price/performance 5 big ones

A killer DAC ; absolutely superb sound and at $ 349 it is a steal. The sound is very, very warm and natural ; plenty of bass and treble. Burr Brown 24-bit DAC, Quad Power Supplies, excellent build quality. I am using a Pioneer Elite PD-65 hooked up to the Link DAC and then to a Harman Kardon Signature 2.1 Amplifier. A killer sounding setup. 5 stars for sound, value and build quality.